Rogers exit ends high-flying run at Duke

The once-sparkling political star of Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers got a lot dimmer Thursday after a proposed settlement with a state regulator cemented his ouster from the company’s top spot by the end of 2013.

Rogers, who had led Duke since 2006, co-chaired the Democratic National Convention this summer, lobbied to have it take place in Charlotte, N.C., and helped keep the endeavor afloat despite a lag in private fundraising.

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The Duke chief’s name has also been heavily circulated on a shortlist of possible replacements for Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who many expect will not stick around for President Barack Obama’s second term. Rogers’s championing of the president’s energy policies has come while other utility companies have decried EPA clean air regulations under Obama, so the CEO is seen as a bridge for the administration to improve its relations with the private sector.

Duke’s tax practices and positions, however, have also rubbed liberal groups the wrong way.

The proposed settlement between the North Carolina Utilities Commission and Duke will close the regulator's investigation into whether the company misled them ahead of approving its merger with Progress Energy, which was completed in July.

Not long after the merger was completed — with the understanding that Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson would take over the new company — Rogers was quickly put back in charge, extending his tenure a year beyond his scheduled retirement. Although Rogers will now leave at the same time as expected, Thursday's action means his departure is among a list of requirements to seal the merger’s success.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the deal on Monday.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee Valley Authority named Johnson as its new president and CEO come Jan. 1.

Still, some environmental groups labeled the proposed settlement “weak” and called on Rogers to spend the remainder of his tenure reducing the company’s carbon output.

"The disparity between Jim Rogers’ rhetoric and the reality of his actions has been a disappointment to say the least, but Rogers has a choice to make,” Greenpeace climate campaigner Robert Gardner said in a statement. “He can leave the company amidst scandal and saddled with plans to increase investment in dirty energy or he can use this time to fulfill his promises to act on climate change.”

He added: "It is in the interest of ratepayers, shareholders and our environment that Rogers and the next CEO chart a course away from coal, nuclear and gas-fired electricity.”

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 9:25 p.m. on November 29, 2012.